


christmas is different with you

by ttoziers



Category: The Goldfinch (2019), The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt
Genre: Babies, M/M, Modern Day, Theo and Boris, absolute babies, and his name changes so often in the book, boreo, coming to terms with it, drunk, fluff!, i always forget how to spell popchyk, i love them, my first time writing boreo, they listen to music and flop around, theyre both absolutely fucked over, theyre gay of course, theyre sappy though and popchyk wont stand for it, uhh theo realising he likes boris kind of, what can i say its christmas eve, when theyre still lil babies in las vegas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-10-14 04:34:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20594774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ttoziers/pseuds/ttoziers
Summary: boris, theo noticed, was absolutely fucked over. It wasn’t an unusual sight, of course, and especially not on christmas eve what with all the eggnog they stole.





	christmas is different with you

**Author's Note:**

> for donna tartt for bringing these two to life.

boris, theo noticed, was absolutely fucked over. it wasn’t an unusual sight, of course, and especially not on christmas eve what with all the eggnog they stole, but it was a sight nonetheless. 

boris was shirtless and dancing around the living room while screaming out the lyrics to some song in ukranian. popchyk was running around him in circles, yapping in what to theo's dunken mind sounded like the same beat. the song was vaguely familiar to theo, but he didn't have half the mind to think about it, or to think about anything, for that matter. he was simply content watching boris. 

theo was, to a degree, slightly less drunk than boris. it didn't take as many drinks for theo as it took for boris to gain the status, and theo didn't know the exact ratio, but he was only assuming according to the fact that he wasn't yelling and dancing as well. 

boris stopped his singing after a few minutes. "why don't you dance with me? is lonely on the couch there, no?" he quipped, putting down the bottle of vodka he had been holding. 

theo snorted, then hiccuped. "im not a dancer, boris. the last time i danced was at a school play in fifth grade and i tripped over my own shoelaces."

boris only shrugged. "are you sure? i think dancing here with me is better than whatever you are doing," he said, gesturing to the three empty cans of beer besides theo.

theo shook his head. boris sighed, but went back to dancing. he started a new song in a different language. russian, theo guessed.

the christmas season had never been theo's favourite. there wasn't really any reason other than the fact that he didn't like green or red, and quite less did he like green and red on every decoration in the apartment, but his mother insisted. he didn't mind the colours as much now, but it didn't matter, because he had boris. 

theo didn't quite know how to explain it, but with boris, everything was much different. things were dramatic and weird and new and stupid everything good that he had never experienced before. but theo was drunk. maybe it was just his mind talking. 

boris stopped dancing again and raised an eyebrow at theo. "you look tired. what is the time?"

theo only closed his eyes."how the fuck should i know?"

he heard boris breath out a puff of air, and before he knew it, he was being lifted off of the couch. theo's eyes flew open and his fingers grappled for purchase on absolutely nothing. 

"boris-you fucking monster-what the hell are you doing? put me the fuck down," theo yelled, grabbing boris's curls and blushing at the sound that it made him make. 

"calm down, potter, i only think you need sleep, and i know you are a lazy fuck, so i am carrying you to bed," boris stated triumphantly, regaining his posture and throwing theo over his shoulder, heading up the stairs. 

"i can walk, you know! boris, seriously-"

"oh shut up, we're almost there."

theo pouted as he heard the door to his bedroom open. how did boris make it up the stairs so quickly in the dark? and how was popchyk so fast to catch up with them? theo started to feel dizzy. 

boris threw him onto the bed and pulled a cigarette from out of nowhere, lighting it while smirking at theo, who stuck his tongue out at boris.

"since when were you so fucking strong?" theo asked, annoyed that boris ditched the bed to smoke. 

"since always, potter, i just never show," boris answered, leaving theo unsatisfied. 

the two stared at each other until boris's cigarette reached its end. theo watched as he opened the window and thre it out. when boris turned around, they stared at each other some more. 

"so are you going to stand there all night or what? im freezing and you know for a fact that you are a fucking furnace," theo snapped. boris laughed and climbed into the bed next to him, popchyk following closely behind. 

only after boris pulled the covers over the both of them did theo, in his stupid, drunken haze, remember that boris was shirtless. it shouldn't have startled him as much as it did, since 90% of the time they were at home boris was shirtless. so, maybe, theo thought, it was the beer that made him blush, and maybe it was the eggnog that made him go stiff when boris threw his arms around theo's torso and pulled him into his stomach. (or maybe it was because usually they only laid in this position after along night of nails raking each other's backs and screams muffled by pillows, clothes thrown carelessly aside and pupils blown up wide, wider than they should be for something that was only for fun.)

but as the night slugged along, and boris's breathing slowed down, theo thought that maybe he had more drinks than he had counted, because he pulled boris's arms closer to him, and moved further back into his warmth. 

"you are awake, potter?" boris whispered, his voice a hundred times louder than normal in the dark, silent room. theo jumped out of boris's arms and accidentally landed on popchyk, who yipped and moved to the opposite side of the bed. 

"i-im sorry, i thought you were sleeping," theo gasped, his mind scrambling for words. 

"you dont need to say 'sorry' you idiot, i do not care. is just me," boris said, and theo could hear more than see how tired boris was. tired and vulnerable, as were many of their nights together in this creaky bed, when they laced their fingers together, half-asleep, and boris would mumble things in languages he couldnt understand.

"is only boris."

theo smiled, glad that boris didn't see it, and settled back down, letting boris pull him close once again. 

theo didn't know when he had fallen asleep, but it was still dark the next time he opened his eyes. nights lasted forever and a day in las vegas, he had noticed. 

sometime in their sleep, boris's arms had fallen from theo's waist and theo had turned to face boris, so as soon as theo opened his eyes his vision was obscured by a lock of curly hair. he moved back slowly, so he didn't wake boris (but not too far away), and his eyes focused on the boy in front of him. 

during the day, boris was loud. boris was open-mouthed smiles, primary colours, smirnoff, chasing each other around the kitchen and falling off the monkey bars at the playground. but at night, when theo woke up in the early mornings like this and boris was illuminated by the moonlight, he was totally different. he was all the stars in the sky, roses, old grandfather clocks chiming, all sharp angles and soft, otherworldly songs. theo smiled as his eyes traced boris's facial features; the freckles you could never see during the day, despite how pale boris was, his elegant cheekbones, and his lips, soft and always turned up at the corners as if even in his dreams he had nothing to fear. 

and then everything all at once was slammed into theo's brain, every little detail about how boris looked or how he always smelled the same and how theo was always happier with him.

theo gasped as the thought became clearer and clearer, the words formed in his brain. 

theo decker was-

just then, boris's eyes sleepily opened, and theo slammed his own shut. 

"it is quite rude to stare, no?" 

theo blushed and opened his eyes to see boris smiling at him, and in that moment, theo knew what he had to do. 

"boris, listen," theo managed to get out, his eyes darting everywhere but boris. "i need to tell you something. and i dont know how to explain it-well, yes i do-but i cant. so . . . i need . . . i mean-" theo cut himself off, daring to look at boris. he looked up to his dark eyes and long eyelashes, his pointed nose, his grin, and that was all it took. 

theo slammed his lips into boris's with a little more force than anticipated and just as quickly pulled away. his heart was racing, his mind was spinning. 

"potter, are you still drunk?" boris said, his expression unreadable. 

theo's insides crippled. "im sorry. i mean, i dont know." 

boris smiled. "then why stop?" he cupped theo's jaw with his hand and connected their lips once more, softly, softly, softer than before. 

theo felt himself melt, and pressed back against boris, where they laid, the earth spinning faster, faster and faster now as images of roses and sunshine and new york flew in and out of theo's brain, this was something he'd never felt before, not even in bed with boris on those nights-no, this was different, this was intimate and quiet and beautiful, and this was boris, all of boris. boris with his walls down. boris like theo wanted to see him over and over and over again. 

boris pulled away from theo and they both gasped for air. 

"potter, i-" boris sniffed. "theo." 

and theo knew. 

"i love you. that is how you say in english, yes?" 

theo smiled. his smile grew wider and wider, and then he started to giggle, and then he laughed. he laughed and laughed until he couldnt keep his eyes open and he pulled boris into his chest, his hands twirling around curls.

"i love you too, dumbass, but i was supposed to say it first."

christmas, theo thought after him and boris kissed some more, and after boris fell asleep on his chest, and after the clock read 5 am, was his new favourite holiday.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed! its my first time writing boreo and i dont know how many people are in the fandom but i needed this. thank you for reading, leave a comment if you want!
> 
> find me on tumblr @ttoziers


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